…While most Jews learn that Chanukah represents the Jewish people’s triumphant victory over the Seleucid Empire, the truth is that the Maccabean Revolt was one of the greatest examples of fratricide between different camps of Jews in Judea…Despite the freedom the Jewish people possessed to maintain their traditions, many Jews opted out of their culture to adopt Hellenized customs and beliefs. The Hellenized Jews, in turn, managed to acquire more power and influence amongst their Greek conquerors than the High Priest of Jerusalem. It was not the first time that the Jewish people found themselves divided in its history, but the significance of the rise of Hellenized Jewry changes how we understand the story of Chanukah. READ MORE

…[US State Department] resistance is motivated by a myriad of reasons. Some simply hate Trump and this offers an opportunity to engage in obstructionism. Some are deeply anti-Semitic and their sympathies lie squarely in the Arab camp. Others view change and bold action as a threat and prefer the status quo. Whatever their motivations, they are working in concert to delay and obstruct the president’s bold new policy initiatives aimed at supporting a loyal ally and acknowledging reality while at the same time breaking the deadlock and reviving an anemic peace process based on a foundation of truth. This isn’t the first time that the White House was confronted with such obstructionism from the State Department.READ MORE

This year, your Hanukkah gifts are coming from Amazon. Eight episodes (one for each night!) of warm, witty and extremely Jewish television have dominated my world of late, thanks to Amazon’s distribution model of dumping an entire season on your doorstep, ringing the bell, then running off into the night…“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” the latest from “Gilmore Girls” producer Amy Sherman-Palladino (who also writes and directs the bulk of the series), is set in late 1950s New York and is a fever dream of nostalgia and wish-fulfillment…As my friends and I keep saying to one another, “this is ‘Mad Men’ if ‘Mad Men’ were, you know, fun.” READ MORE

…Yet too many Jewish leaders continue to fetishize a wonderful 1960s model of social-justice activism whose foundational values are, in fact, a main target of today’s “social justice” advocates. The Reform movement and much of the unaffiliated American Jewish community has failed to recognize the troubling transformation that has altered the meaning of “social justice” beyond the point where its old-school liberals still recognize the term. A postmodern, moral-relativist zeitgeist, one that is almost unrecognizable to the older form of liberalism, suddenly broke out of its theoretical, academic confines and began flooding the consciousness of social progressivism, especially on campuses, and almost always in the movements to which young Jewish activists are attracted. READ MORE

President Trump’s decision to formally recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and to announce plans to move America’s embassy to the seat of Israel’s government is one of the best, most moral, and important decisions of his young administration. On this issue, he is demonstrating greater resolve than Republican and Democratic presidents before him, and he is defying some of the worst people in the world. Think I’m overstating this? Think I’m too enthusiastic about an isolated diplomatic maneuver — especially when that maneuver, to quote the New York Times, “isolates the U.S.” and “has drawn a storm of criticism from Arab and European leaders”? Let’s consider some law, history, and context. READ MORE

US President Donald Trump strode onto the stage at the White House Hanukkah Reception with a particular air of confidence on Thursday night. “Well, I know for a fact there are a lot of happy people in this room,” he told the gathered crowd. He then paused for effect — and applause — before saying what was on everyone’s mind: “Jerusalem.” This year’s annual soiree came one day after Trump delivered on a campaign promise made by several former presidents, but never before implemented, formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and directing the State Department to formulate a plan for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. READ MORE

President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is ready to restore ties with Saudi Arabia if it stops bombing Yemen and cuts its alleged ties with Israel. In a speech broadcast Sunday, Rouhani said the regional rivals could have “good relations” if the Saudis end their “misguided friendship” with Israel and halt the “inhuman bombardment” of Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iranian-allied rebels known as Houthis…Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel, but the two countries have a shared interest in countering Iran.READ MORE